Pope Francis puts a new light on the Lenten practice of fasting. Rather than going without sweets, alcohol etc., why not fast from our bad habits?

Here are some suggestions:

• Fast from angry words. They seldom help; most always they hurt.
• Fast from judgements about others and why they are that way. You don’t really know.
• Fast from always following your feelings. Feelings come and go. They have no mind of their own. Listen to them but don’t be a slave to them.
• Fast from always finding “fault”. Try to see the good right next to the “not so good”.
• Fast from seeing yourself as treated unfairly. Think how many times you’ve gotten away with something!
• Fast from thinking “you’re a cut above” the rest. How many people have had the advantages in life that you’ve had?
• Fast from avoiding people you don’t like. They deserve your kindness always.
• Fast from holding on to hurts and disappointments. My sister tells me to “get over it”. She’s right. “Over it” can start something new.
• Fast from blaming (God, the government, the schools, the liberals, the conservatives, the church, etc.).
• Fast from hoarding. Face it, we all have too much. Let some of your (money, clothes, shoes, coats, toys) go.
• Fast from thinking it “all depends on you.” It doesn’t. It’s what God wants. Get in touch with what God wants.

God will whisper what he asks you to do.

Have a blessed Lent.

Fr. Tim

Maybe it was because my father held a rather strict hand in raising his children. Maybe it was the preaching Old Fr. MacIntyre would deliver Sunday after Sunday in my parish growing up. Maybe it was just “the times” back in the fifty’s and early sixties.

Whatever the reason, I’ve always been a little afraid of the words in the Creed which says God “Will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead.”

It tells me that what I do in my life will be examined by God who made me. It’s called “Judgement Day” when “Every one of us will have to give an account of himself/ herself before God.” Romans 14:12

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I don’t think we give enough attention to this warning.

We in the United States, we here in Webster (where “life is worth living”), can easily forget that this life of ours will come to an end and then God will have a few questions for us. (I don’t have the slightest idea HOW this will happen . . . but faith tells us somehow there will be a reckoning.)

Other generations had this urgency in their bones. My father, who saw life and death during the war, was fond of telling us that “Life is real and earnest. This is not a dress rehearsal. This is it.”

So many today live a passive response to this urgency. “Whatever” we say carelessly. Or, “that’s a long way off. I can’t be bothered thinking about the end.” Or, “My life is mine to live. Back off.”

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We have a choice as to how to imagine our lives. In the end I think it comes down to two basic options. (See if this image makes any sense).

Remember that college or certification class that helped you develop a certain knowledge or skill? You have a choice . . . you can take the course for credit or you can simply audit it.

Auditing has a certain appeal, doesn’t it? It’s cheaper, there’s no essay required and best of all no test. All you have to do is sit there. Take whatever you want and leave the rest. (I audited a course one summer. It was great! I can’t remember a single thing I learned, but I met this really cool girl.)

OR – – – You can take it for credit. This will cost you more in time, money, and sweat. And . . . you will have to show what you’ve learned to get the credit.

So why take the credit course? Because it leads somewhere. It takes you to a new place. You now have something you own and with this achievement you can advance a career, secure a future, realize what you are capable of.

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So the question is: are you in this life for credit or are you merely auditing? Jesus has a story that might help you decide. Read Matthew 25: 14-30. (really I mean it, it’ll take three minutes).

An owner gives three people a different sum of money to conduct their portion of the business of running a vineyard. The first two take the money and use it in a way that increases the value of the vineyard. The third fellow takes the money and buries it thinking if he just gives it back that will be enough.

Well guess what? It wasn’t enough. He fired him. The master wanted a return on his investment. He wanted to see some sort of effort to advance the cause of the business.

Jesus tells this story to wake us up. God has given you a life to live. He’s blessed you with certain talents and gifts. What have you done with it?

It’s never too late to begin. All God asks is that we try. He’ll take care of the rest.

This is it. No dress rehearsal.

Fr. Tim

Last Sunday Fr. Dan McMullen took us on a wonderful journey in prayer. (You can see the entire talk on our website.) He spoke about our desire for “good feelings” during prayer and how the lack of them does not mean God is far away. He helped us see how God’s presence can come to us through sacred scripture in the practice of Lectio Divina (Sacred Reading).

To help us see the “tracings” of God’s presence in our day, he left us a set of questions we might ask ourselves at the end of the day. Take your time with these. The answers only come gradually! I like the first one the best. Maybe this could be your evening prayer. Pick one or two and speak them to the Lord.

Fr. Tim

From Benedictus: A Book of Blessings by John O’Donohue, p. 115

This mind boggling command is in our gospel for this Sunday.

Nowhere, ever, will you find the love of enemy in the law for any nation, any organization, any religion . . . only Christianity has this command. These words were spoken by Our Lord Himself, not to living saints, but to his disciples, rough fishermen, common people. He speaks to you and me.

Think for a moment . . . do you have any enemies? I mean real enemies, someone who wants bad things to happen to you. Someone who tries to hurt you?

If you lived in Israel, or Palestine you could answer “yes”. For the Jew it would be “the Palestinians”, for the Palestinian it would be “the Jews”. For the Serbians it’s the Croats (and vice-versa). And on it goes, Huttus vs. Tutsis, Christians vs. Moslems, and here in America, we could say at times even Democrats and Republicans.

How about you? Do you have any enemies? I’m hard pressed to answer “yes” to that. I have people who don’t like me or don’t trust me (and me toward them); perhaps they are a rival, but I can’t say I know anyone who is my enemy.

Does this clear us from the Lord’s command? “I’m ok here Lord, I don’t have any enemies.” I don’t think so. In the same way Jesus expanded the other commandments of the Torah – – – from shall not kill to shall not grow angry, from shall not commit adultery to shall not even look lustfully – – – so now my “enemy” becomes someone who doesn’t necessarily “hate” me but rather someone who “stands in my way”.

My enemy becomes someone who thinks differently than I. Someone who makes me afraid, someone who, yes, doesn’t like me. Someone who hurt me, and by golly I’m not going to forget that.

And what do we do with this new “expanded” version of enemy? We avoid that person. We gather people around us who feel the same way about that person.

You can see how this natural response to an opposing force begins to divide the human family. Fear, retaliation, mistrust become the atmosphere between families, co-workers, political parties, cultures, religions, and nations.

How can this situation, given human nature, ever change? Or perhaps do we even want it to change? (Isn’t it easier to keep my enemies my enemy?!)

No. Jesus says, “love your enemy.”

But HOW? (Please know I’m trying to do these myself and many of you are much better at this than I am).

Thoughts to help me love my enemy:

• To love, doesn’t mean to feel “sweet” toward my enemy. Bottom line it means to want what is good for them, “that they be well”.
• Who knows what hurtful events have marked their lives. Perhaps their response to me is really just them trying not to be hurt again.
• Inside every human being is someone who (because we are made in God’s image) wants to love and be loved. Every one of us. So my “enemy” is like me!
• How would I wish to be treated by this person? Do that for them.
• In the end, God is bigger than my feelings and fears. If He commands it, then He will help me do it.
• It’s going to hurt. It’s part of the cross we carry for love of Christ.
• No one wants to have or be . . . an enemy.

God help us all with these things. In the end Jesus wants us to love like Him and His Father.

A blessed week to you.

Fr. Tim

What does it mean TO HAVE HOPE?

The common everyday meaning of hope has to do with a DESIRE for some particular thing to happen for me or for others. It’s sort of related to “wishing”. “I wish I could putt (sing, dance, pray. . .) better. Often we’ll use hope to express our best wishes for ourselves and loved ones, hopes that are by no means certain.

For example, I hope you: win the lottery, do well on your SAT’s, get the promotion, meet up with her at the party, find those car keys. And to that hope a friend would “Okay, wish me LUCK.” Good luck because “chances are” it might not happen. The New York Lottery is fond of playing on this “hope” of a win. “Play the Lotto because. . . .Hey, you never know”.

This is not what Christians mean by hope. Hear the words of the Universal Catechism: “Hope is the virtue by which we desire the kingdom of heaven and eternal life as our happiness, placing our trust in Christ’s promises. . . not on our own strength.” (1817). Scripture says, “hold fast the confession of hope, for he who promised is faithful.” Heb. 10:2.

In fact Christian hope has nothing to do with wishing or chance. Through the merits of Christ’s Passion “this hope (of Eternal Life) does not disappoint.” (Rms. 5:5). Hope is the “sure and steadfast anchor of the soul that enters where Jesus has already gone as a forerunner on our behalf.” (Heb. 6:19-20).

In other words Christian hope IS A SURE THING. It’s for sure because it is based on a promise by God- – – God who can neither deceive nor be deceived. When Jesus (the Word made flesh) says: “I am the resurrection and the life.” “Who ever puts their faith in me will never suffer eternal death”, HE MEANS IT. IT’S A SURE THING. He’s not kidding around. He’s the way, the TRUTH, and the life.

So hope is based on the Word of God (the promises made through Jesus Christ). It is of course preceded by faith. FAITH gives us the power to believe in the words of Christ promises. HOPE now desires those promises as real and attainable. And these two give rise to CHARITY which, given the certainty of the promises, frees us from ourselves and our selfishness. We are then able to love God above all things and our neighbor as we love our- selves.

It is this peaceful, confident (based on God, not us) hope of a blessedness which we at Holy Trinity desire to extend to all who are in need. How? By being people of hope.

Come join us in our mission!

Fr. Tim

The readings this Sunday remind me once again of a time long ago when youth had to face the challenge of growing up. Isaiah sees the glory of God and draws back. Peter sees the power of Christ’s invitation and wants to escape. In both cases they were given a moment of strengthening, the power to trust that the risk they were about to take would be protected by God. Ah Youth!!

When God made young people, he put huge amounts of hormones in them to make them brave, passionate, risk takers. (Without that, I wonder if we’d ever move out of our parent’s home.)

We wonder why we can’t have guarantees in life; why is life such a risk? Because if everything turned out just the way we wanted, love would wither and die. We’d EXPECT success in any effort we make…. that wouldn’t be love. Love has to give itself away. No promise of payback.

Every couple has that moment of risk; (a romantic setting, a ring, “Will you?”, “Yes!!” and later on . . . “Shall we?” . . . “Shall we what?” . . . “Shall we have a baby?”, “Of course! Why do you think I bought the roses?!!”) “Love believes all things, hopes all things.” ! Cor:13

Below you’ll find my “risk moment” in becoming a priest. I’ve written about it before but it still speaks to me. It happened 46 years ago.

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A grain of wheat. What is it but a little package of life? In it is contained all that is needed for a new plant, or tree, or wild flower. But something has to happen for it to become what it was made to be. It has to die. Unless it dies, Jesus says rather plaintively, “It remains just a grain of wheat.” As if to say “what good is that? A seed that won’t die”.

We are like a seed, a package of Christ’s life given to us at baptism.

And like Christ, we must die to ourselves like a seed in the ground. I’d like to share a moment when God made this crystal clear for me in a very personal way.

It was late August of my 26th year. I was renting the up- per half of a house owned by a nice widowed woman. I had been teaching high school the past two years and after much struggle was accepted into the seminary for studies for the priesthood. But now serious second thoughts were occurring as school was a week away. “What were you thinking?” I asked myself. “Do you really want to do this?” I was all knotted up.

To help clear my head I offered my land lady to clean the gutters of leaves on the second floor roof. Climbing out my window onto the roof I had a lovely view of the street and garden just below. Looking down I saw all these little green oak tree sprouts growing just under the gutter. The acorns had rolled off the roof and onto the ground and there they grew.

All but one acorn . . . it had fallen into the gutter and sat for who knows how long. It was big and round and still had its little acorn hat. “What a smart little acorn you are,” I thought. “Staying nice and safe in this gutter. You didn’t die like your little brother and sisters down below.”

So with my thumb I pried the little cap off the acorn to look inside. And there it was, filling the entire acorn with its bright orange body . . . a giant maggot. It had eaten the entire inside of the acorn. No green little oak leaves sprouting up from the ground, this acorn was now home to a giant worm.

I threw the acorn to the ground and not a minute later the Holy Spirit whispered to my heart “. . . but if it dies, it bears much fruit.” Unlike that hesitant acorn I came down off that roof and planted myself in the seminary . . . where I had to die about ten times before becoming a priest!! Those little oak trees would be 45 years old by now.

Message to youth, – – – pray about it – – – then do it!

Fr. Tim

There’s a crab apple tree outside my office window. I’d say it’s some 15 to 20 years old. Each spring it explodes into a wonderful cloud of pink blossoms that last for about 10 days.

It stands naked right now except for several thousand little crab apples arranged throughout its skinny tree limbs. They’ll all be eaten by hungry robins come spring. And here friends, hangs our lesson for the week.

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Against the dull gray sky, the tree is all in black silhouette. Each little crab apple hangs at random, like a drop- let along each branch. The whole tree fits exactly in my window as if it were a picture frame.

It’s perfect. And that’s the point. The tree just happened. There wasn’t a care in the world when each apple began to grow on the tree, yet it has a balance and proportion any artist would covet. You could entitle the art of my window view . . . “Crab Apple Against a Winter Sky”.

I’m sure you’ve seen this “effortless beauty” of nature for yourself. Walk through a pine forest. Look down at the random pine needles on the ground. They’re perfectly, beautifully arranged where they’ve fallen. See the perfect curve of the snow drift at the corner of your house (how did the wind get to be such an artist?). I won’t even start with the random beauty of clouds or sun light.

The point is . . . it’s exquisite. And it’s free for any eye that wishes to really look. Listen to the leaves in the wind, waves on the beach, thunder in the storm . . . they’re perfect in a wondrous way. And it all happens with a carelessness that would make any artist jealous for the brilliance it displays.

And guess what? It’s FOR YOU. God made it for you, not for any other creature. Do you think the deer in the forest gives a fig for the brilliant Fall leaves that surround it?

Does the eagle pause in midflight to marvel at the beauty in the valley below? Do the flames dancing in your fire place giving calm and comfort mean anything to your cat?

How little mind we give this gift. Sometimes I imagine the Lord saying, “Look, nobody gets it. I make all this cool stuff and all my creatures just take it for granted. Fish swim in it. Birds fly in it. Buffalo graze on it but not one “Wow!”. Not one, ‘Thanks Lord'”. You man, you woman. Can’t I get a little appreciation here.”

When you think about it, we humans are the spokespersons for the rest of creation. We have a voice to speak on behalf of the running stream, the soaring eagle . . . “Thank you Lord.”

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Pope Francis has written an encyclical called Laudato Si (“Praise be to You”). In it he points to an appreciation of this created world as a gift of God. He reminds us that the earth is humanity’s common home; it needs our care and protection in the way we use its natural resources. The generations to come have an equal right to drink clean water and breathe clean air.

But back to us humans for a moment. Of all the beauty of God’s creation, (the birds, the flowers, and yes, those little puppies) can you think of anything quite as captivating, and endlessly expressive as the human face? Why is that? Because it is the window to the human spirit . . . which, in case you’d forgotten, is a face that God had. To look on the human face is to see some faint image of God himself.

All this to say, “Oh Lord, how great thou art.” Open your eyes. His glory is everywhere.

Fr. Tim

“It is not good for man to be alone.” These remarkable words are spoken by God in the Book of Genesis as he seeks for a way to brighten things for a sad and lonely Adam. So God creates Eve, and she and Adam became “partners”.

Problem solved? For a while. But then it happened. In a way we’ll never know fully here on earth, our first parents chose to walk away from God who created them. And that’s when the sadness and loneliness of life settled in.

God comes calling for Adam and Eve; but they hide from him. The man and woman can no longer look at each other as they are so they cover themselves with leaves. Loneliness is born. Oh dear.

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God made us “to be with” other humans. It makes us a “family” not a herd. We share a common planet and a future destiny. But we’re torn. We want to connect, but there’s no one who we can trust to know us completely.

Do you begin to see the peaceful co-existence of the world’s peoples can only come when God is universally acknowledged as our creator and savior? Without the assurance of the love of God upholding creation and calling humanity to himself, we’re left with a profound mistrust of one another.

Not even friend, lover, husband or wife will put to rest our craving for unity and completion in this broken world. God is the only “other” that can complete us and his plan for all creation.

And so . . . . we’re lonely. No one knows us as we truly are. We’re even a mystery to ourselves. We so want someone to have “all of us” but there’s no one around who knows our origins and who has the eyes to see us as we are.

So what do we do? Here’s where people can get lost. Some people will medicate their loneliness (food, alcohol, pills, etc.). Some will try to fill it with people and constant activity. Some go shopping! Why not travel?

Spiritual writers urge us to accept our loneliness. It’s part of life. It goes along with all the other moments humans experience. “There is a season and a time for every purpose. A time to be born, a time to die, a time to laugh, a time to weep . . . ” Ecclesiastes.

In fact loneliness can add an unexpected blessing in our lives. It can force us to know ourselves, to truly embrace who we are (the good and the bad, the happy and sad). We stop running away from ourselves. Being alone is not so bad.

Best of all, loneliness can invite you to reach out to God in prayer. To confide in God what you’d speak to no other . . . . knowing that he hears and understands all of you.

Do you know who the loneliest guy in the world is? It has to be Jesus. Who on earth could possibly understand who he was? Who could ever know the weight his mission placed on his shoulders? What must have been his loneli- ness in the garden that terrible night?

But he was never alone for he knew his Father. (How of- ten the scripture refers to Jesus spending the night alone in prayer to his Father “who sees in secret”.)

Lonely? Of course. Embrace it. Make friends with it (“Sister Loneliness”, St. Francis might say). You’ll be surprised how it will make you a better person; it can make you aware of the loneliness of others. It’s called compassion.

Last thought. There’s no loneliness in heaven. God will permeate every speck of our being. “For now we see as through a glass darkly, but then face to face: now I know in part, but then I shall know even as I am known.” 1 Cor. 13:12.

God sees you . . . and loves you. Fr. Tim

Romans 7: 14-25 (Read it!)

The older I get the more interested I become in what moves people to want what they want. What is it that resonates in a person that makes them want to spend their time and money on some object or activity?

It starts with our appetites. Certain things are built into us that create a readiness for what appeals to the senses or the imagination. Most things come to us this way. Smelling bacon in the morning starts a wonderful desire that leads to breakfast.

Other things appeal to our spiritual senses. Telling the truth. Being faithful, courageous, or generous. These things have True Value as do. . . people, family, faith, country.

Now there’s a problem. Sometimes the “lower senses” of our physical nature can overpower our higher sensibilities. (try being patient when you haven’t eaten all day!). Other appetites insist we possess certain things: a new cell phone, lap top, puppy, vacation spot, etc. These can have a certain urgency that creates a “want” before we realize it.

What’s wrong with wanting something? Nothing at all. It’s how God made us. The problem comes when “wanting” is for something I “Shouldn’t have”. This can cause a real tussle. “But I WAAAANT IT!”, we cried as children (as our parents wisely hid the candy, or ordered the TV turned off). And thus began the life long struggle to achieve the proper balance between need and want.

As a priest I get a bird’s eye view of this struggle when hearing confessions. People come to confess their sins. Most often sin starts by “wanting” something contrary to what is right and good. This wanting can be VERY powerful. Eventually it can outweigh the attraction to the higher good. The good loses its appeal. We fall prey to a desire that takes us away from who we really want to be. Addictions can begin here.

So how can we stop wanting what is bad for us? It comes in finding something I want more. Something in us has to be bigger than the powerful desires for booze, sex, possessions, prestige, popularity, etc.

The problem is at the feeling level. I can know an ideal is good but not FEEL it. But with (pick your go to sin!) . . . your brain knows it’s sinful but there’s a powerful wanting at the feeling level.

What can give us, not just the knowledge about what is right, but the felt “wanting” to do it?

The answer of course is love. Love in the form of “loyalty”. Think for a moment of those people who are privileged to have your love and loyalty . . . your spouse, the children, your best friend.

Think how many times you walked away from something you really wanted because of your love for them. In most cases it wasn’t even close! (Your daughter’s need for braces far outweighed your wanting that vacation trip)

Finally . . . God wants to be in that same privileged place as your daughter or friend. He wants us to walk away from some of our wants because of our love for Him. Jesus did this very thing in the garden. “Father please. Take this away . . . but not what I want . . . help me to want what YOU want.”

It’s a grace from God to want what He wants. Ask for it. His will for us is our peace.

Fr. Tim

Some time ago, in a previous parish, I lived and worked with an old retired pastor. He was revered as a priest who knew his parishioners and had that “golden touch” with people who were troubled or lost. People flocked to him to receive his gentle wisdom.

He had one particular habit however that bugged me. At the end of every mass he celebrated on Sunday he’d tell the congregation, “Be sure to share your smile”. It was his sign off. People waited for these last words from him.

As for me I thought how “corny” it was. It was just too simple. I mean for all the problems we face, for all the worries we have for the coming week, for all the problems of the world . . . all you can say is “share your smile”?!

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But you know what? He’s right. Share your smile is brilliant. Why? Because it sends a universal message. Everyone knows what a smile means. Webster defines it as “a favorable, pleasing, or agreeable appearance; characterized by an upward curving of the corners of the mouth.”

And what does this “upward curving of the mouth” say? It says “you’re worth it. You are not invisible. You’re a fellow human being and I’m sending you my good wishes.”

It can literally change a person’s day. Suddenly someone has seen me and cares enough to offer me a tiny “be well”. A smile disarms us of our fears, touches us briefly with kindness, and becomes a light in the midst of gray and shadow.

Some people have that gift in spades. They have a wonderful smile. I remember a seminarian who sometimes worried whether he had the pastoral skills needed but who had something the rest of the class lacked – – – he had a magical smile that brightened any room he walked into.

You just feel better when someone smiles at you, don’t you? So why don’t we do that more often? I think it’s because: 1. We’re afraid. We’re afraid of being “misinterpreted” or frowned upon or ignored. And 2. We’re self-absorbed. “I’ve got too many things on my mind right now. Too much to do. You stay in your lane; I’ll stay in mine.”

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So how do we get over our fear and self-absorption in order to give the gift of a smile? Some thoughts:

So I’m going to work on my smile this new year. I’m not going to expect people to return it. After all it’s a gift. And should I forget, maybe your smile will remind me.

So I’ll end this column like that old pastor . . . “be sure to share your smile.”

God’s smile upon you.

Fr. Tim